The Basketball Parable

Once upon a time (January 11, 2013 to be exact) a man took a basketball in his hands, walked up to the half-court line, and to the roar of the admiring crowd took the shot worth $1000.00.

As one of our resident historians (Ben P.) lamented: “Seriously, I have spent five minutes googling every morning for the past few days trying to see if an explanation has been given yet. Surely there has to be, right? I mean, A BALL ISN’T SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!!!!”

But as one of our resident mathematicians (Cynthia L) explained: “It can do that. Thrown from half court, there is enough force to deform the ball, making it wedge itself in the corner. This doesn’t happen in normal shooting because it happens at closer range. So if it hits that small flat area, it will bounce, not stick.”

But the real point is that this can be your newest Sunday School analogy. See this man did all in his power to make that shot, but something (weird but amazing physics) caused it to get stuck. And then beautifully he was saved by grace, after all he could do.

Take the clip into your class and watch as people’s eyes alight in understanding. Or at least exclaim “Awesome!”

It does probablt have to have some backspin, but the real issue is angle of flight. Only a shot from straight on, top of the key or farther out, would have a chance of ending in this result. So you can see that it is much more likely to happen in a halfcourt stunt shot than in a game, because players rarely shoot from straight above the key in a game. However, I have seen shots get stuck between the side of the rim and the backboard in a game. That is not unheard of at all.